Hisense U6NQ vs Samsung U8000F (VA)

Hisense U6NQ offers a stable HDR effect, which is rare in TVs with local dimming. On most streaming platforms, in movies and series recorded in 4K, the TV presents consistent performance – in every tested scene, regardless of difficulty level, brightness is around 450 nits. This is a pleasant surprise, as many models in this class show significant differences – some scenes are well-lit, while others are heavily dimmed by dimming algorithms. However, Hisense U6NQ prioritizes maintaining higher brightness, which comes at the expense of black levels, as mentioned in the paragraph about contrast testing.

The HDR effect on the U6NQ is satisfying, offering a noticeable "hit" of light in bright moments, although it is worth remembering the previously mentioned blooming, which can be visible in more challenging scenes. In terms of colours, the TV also performs decently – the coverage of the DCI-P3 palette is 89%, and BT.2020 is 71%. Although these are not results that would impress more demanding users, for beginners in the world of high-quality content, the U6NQ serves as a solid choice. Thus, it presents an interesting option as an "entry-level" TV for home cinema.

While the U8000F with a VA panel can still be praised for decent blacks, there are no longer any reasons to be impressed regarding brightness – especially in HDR scenes. The television reaches a maximum of just under 250 nits, which is simply too little to talk about any impressive light effects. Bright elements come off as pale, and scenes that should shine look rather flat. An interesting situation was observed during the test of a scene from the movie Sicario 2 – the screen noticeably darkened, as if the television were trying to hide its limitations in displaying blacks. One might get the impression that the device artificially darkens the image to improve contrast, but in practice, the effect doesn't make much of a difference, other than that we see less on the screen. Additionally, there's the issue of colors – the U8000F does not support a wide color gamut, so don't expect vibrant, saturated shades known from better models. The HDR image here resembles slightly brightened SDR and… maybe that’s even a good thing. For this model, it's not worth setting expectations for cinematic experiences – it's better to treat HDR as a modest addition.

The Hisense U6NQ in Filmmaker mode offers truly decent colour reproduction, although it is worth noting that differences between individual units can be noticeable. The model we tested surprised us positively, especially with HD content in SDR quality. The white balance was correct, and errors around 3–4 ΔE should be acceptable for the average viewer. The TV performed slightly worse in colour reproduction with 4K HDR materials. The dominance of blue hues led to unnatural cool tones on the Colour Checker chart, giving the picture a "store-bought" character. Combined with issues in brightness characteristics – gamma and EOTF curve caused some parts of the image to be too dark – the Filmmaker mode loses some of its credibility in this case. Although the factory settings of the tested unit deserve praise, especially in SDR, there were still minor shortcomings that would require adjustment to fully leverage the capabilities of the TV.

The Samsung U8000F has been tested by us in the best picture mode available out of the box – namely, Filmmaker Mode. This profile is supposed to provide a neutral, cinematic image, free of unnecessary enhancements and artificial beautifications. In the case of SDR content – mainly in HD or SD resolution – the television performed surprisingly well right out of the box. The only noticeable imperfection was brightness management. The gamma chart showed some deviations – slight brightening or dimming of certain tones – but in practice, it did not significantly affect the viewing experience. For a television in this segment, it performs quite well.

However, the situation is considerably weaker in HDR mode. Although white balance was still acceptable, color errors were very pronounced. In the Color Checker test, almost every sample was outside the target point, and the image itself looked unnatural – colors were shifted, sometimes too cool, at other times simply dull and lifeless. The main problem lies in the hardware limitations – the U8000F does not support the wide color gamut of DCI-P3, so it is physically unable to reproduce the colors anticipated by the HDR standard. And unfortunately, this is evident in almost every more demanding scene.

Although the factory settings of the Filmmaker mode on the Hisense U6NQ were quite good, we decided to carry out calibration to fully assess the capabilities of this model. Only after such an adjustment can you see how the TV performs in ideal conditions. In the case of SDR content, which was already at a high level, we managed to further improve the white balance. However, the biggest change came from the brightness characteristic correction - gamma was optimized and no longer causes excessive dimming of the image, which improves its naturalness.

For 4K HDR content, calibration also yielded positive results. We eliminated the problem of blue dominance, which translated into a more balanced and natural image. However, managing brightness in HDR materials remains a more complicated issue. The EOTF curve, although it had problems with dimming the image in the range of 10-30% brightness under laboratory conditions, reveals other shortcomings in real scenes. The TV tends to excessively brighten the smallest elements on the screen. As a result, this leads to noticeable halo effects around bright objects. This phenomenon, which we mentioned earlier in the context of contrast and HDR, stems from the technological limitations of the model and is often difficult to eliminate.

In short: although the Filmmaker mode with factory settings looked decent, calibration allowed for an even better effect - minor adjustments resulted in a more balanced image, especially in HDR content. Calibration will be a beneficial step for users seeking the highest quality image.

Right out of the box, the U8000F offered quite a decent picture in SDR for its price range. However, we managed to slightly enhance it – we reduced a subtle purple tint and improved the gamma characteristics, giving it a more natural curve. Despite these adjustments, the TV still tends to brighten the brightest details a bit too aggressively – the gamma graph shows a clear dip that cannot be fully corrected.

On the other hand, in HDR mode, it is noticeably weaker. It's hard to talk about any significant improvement here – despite attempts to tweak the settings, the picture still presents considerable color errors. A Delta E exceeding 7 means noticeable deviations that couldn't be effectively reduced. Unfortunately, this is a limitation of the design itself – the U8000F was simply not designed for serious HDR. In everyday SDR viewing, it performs quite well, but when it comes to HDR content... it's best not to have too high expectations.

With high-quality materials, such as 4K, tonal transitions on the U6NQ look really good – the colours blend nicely and the image is cohesive. Unfortunately, when we switch to content in a lower resolution, the television does not offer any additional features that could improve this aspect. An example is the test with the light bulb, where it is clear that the television has trouble rendering subtle tonal transitions.

On the other hand, digital processing performs quite well. The image looks plastic, pleasantly soft, and free of excessive aliasing. Moreover, thanks to the sharpness settings, it can be adjusted according to personal preferences – whether towards a softer or sharper image. Overall, although scaling lower-quality materials could be better, the television does well with image processing.

When it comes to how the Samsung U8000F handles lower quality materials, we must admit that Samsung has made progress compared to its predecessor from last year – the DU7192 model, which theoretically occupies the same position in the lineup. This year's model is equipped with a feature for improving the fluidity of tonal transitions, which has been implemented much better than last year. Yes, the TV still uses quite strong algorithms that can distort details or remove film grain, but despite that – it can be confidently said that it works effectively. However, not everything went perfectly. The U8000F has noticeable issues with slight image stuttering when watching very old content in very low resolution. If someone plans to play their old VHS tape, they should be prepared for the image to appear slightly "choppy."

The Hisense U6NQ offers a native refresh rate of 60 Hz at a 4K resolution, but the manufacturer has added a feature that allows increasing the refresh rate to 120 Hz at the cost of reducing the resolution to Full HD. This is a solution we have seen before in TVs from TCL, such as the C655 and the C655 PRO. This gives the user the option to choose – higher motion fluidity or full resolution. This is a sensible approach, especially considering that many games on new-generation consoles do not achieve full performance in 4K at 120 Hz.

As for movies, the TV is equipped with a motion smoothing feature that allows adjusting motion characteristics to personal preferences. This can create a more cinematic effect or increase fluidity in dynamic scenes. Overall, the Hisense U6NQ offers reasonable solutions for motion fluidity that should satisfy both gamers and movie lovers.

The Samsung U8000F is equipped with a 60 Hz panel, so right from the start, it's clear that we shouldn't expect miracles. This is simply standard in this class – sufficient for everyday viewing but without any frills. The TV offers one motion enhancement slider – a feature called "Motion Blur Reduction," which allows us to adjust the smoothness of the image in movies. Higher settings give a more "theatrical" and smoothed effect, while lower settings help maintain the original character of the film with a slight 24p effect. An interesting feature is "Clear Motion LED," which is a BFI mode – inserting black frames between image frames to improve motion sharpness. However, in practice, the screen flickers heavily when it's activated, and it should be treated more as an experiment than something that genuinely improves gaming comfort.

The Hisense U6NQ offers the option to choose between 4K at 60 Hz and Full HD with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. This solution may appeal to gamers who want to decide what is more important to them – higher resolution or smoothness. The television supports features such as ALLM and VRR, which help in achieving smoother gameplay. A nice addition is the GameBar – an easy-to-use panel that allows for quick changes to picture settings and checking statistics. It also includes a Dolby Vision Gaming mode, which works with low input lag, a big plus for console enthusiasts. Unfortunately, it lacks HGiG, which could further enhance HDR quality in games. Nevertheless, the Hisense U6NQ performs quite well as a gaming television, especially for those who play occasionally and do not require the highest refresh rates in 4K. It is a solid choice for less demanding users.

[UPDATE] We have updated our 2025 Samsung TV reviews following the release of firmware version 1131, which officially restores the essential HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) support.

Samsung U8000F offers a basic set of features for gamers, which nonetheless may be sufficient for less demanding users. It has an automatic game mode – when a game is launched on the console, the TV automatically switches to low latency mode, significantly improving response time. It also includes a VRR feature, or variable refresh rate, which operates in the range of 48 to 60 Hz. This means that both Xbox and PS5 will not produce a "tearing" effect on the screen – as long as we stay within this range.

And unfortunately, that's about it when it comes to advantages. Additions like Game Bar or higher refresh rates are reserved for higher models of Samsung from the 2025 line. In theory, the TV also supports the HGiG function, which should adjust the HDR image to the intentions of game developers. Unfortunately – even though this feature appears in brochures and marketing materials – its configuration on the Xbox console turned out to be... impossible in practice.